Homeless camp 'enforcement effort' raises concerns

A sign made from cardboard lies in a clearing at the Gustav Swanson Natural Area on Wednesday. Concerns over trash and safety have spurred Fort Collins police to crack down on those camping along the Poudre River within city limits.(Photo: V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan)Buy Photo

On a dreary May morning, Fort Collins police surround an illegal camp tucked under a grove of trees a stone's throw from the Poudre River.

Beer cans lay splayed across the small clearing of trampled grass in the northeast reaches of the city. A blue tarp acts as a makeshift rain shelter, and a man's motorcycle sits nearby, rusted but operable. Its owner, while answering questions from police, says he had planned to teach a friend how to "survival camp" the previous evening.

His friend never showed up, he says, leaving him to address officers' skeptical questions, clear out his temporary home and move along — alone.

Teams of officers and natural areas rangers armed with trash bags and ticket books launched a May 7 homeless camping "enforcement effort" targeting folks who call camps along the river home. In recent months, authorities say they've witnessed a surge in complaints from trail users and business owners about the number of transient camps located along stretches of the city's prized Poudre River Trail and surrounding corridor.

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Fort Collins police cite a man for illegally camping near the Poudre River on May 7. The enforcement efforts were part of a broader police push against numerous campers who have set up along the river in recent months.
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Jason Pohl/The Coloradoan
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Some view the homeless camps as an "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" issue, but rangers tasked with maintaining the trail have struggled to keep up with the added workload of cleaning up after campers and telling folks to "move along." Authorities admit many campers contacted during the May 7 efforts were cordial and nonconfrontational, yet they stress something needs to be done to keep people from illegally camping within city limits.

Fort Collins Police Services Patrol Division Chief Jerry Schiager said that, while many camps are quiet and don't pose major problems aside from leaving trash, authorities occasionally run calls involving weapons or encounter folks with active warrants out for their arrest along the forested trail area. With the complaints from residents coming earlier this year than in the past, he said there's a growing concern a surge will continue unless something proactive is done.

"This has become more of a community problem," he said.

Advocates caught off-guard

The May 7 enforcement project that started at 6:30 a.m. and lasted through the day located 31 illegal campsites and resulted in 32 summonses for local and state violations, mainly camping in public, Schiager said. Additionally, four people were arrested on outstanding warrants, and police hauled away five truckloads of stuff, mostly trash.

While police deemed the morning a success — at least as much as it can be — homeless advocacy groups immediately heard concerns from the homeless populations, particularly about confiscated items and being told they couldn't stay along the river, yet they couldn't really camp anywhere else.

Simultaneously, some groups that provide services for Fort Collins' homeless, including the nonprofit Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, felt like they were "blindsided" by police efforts.

"We try to be as helpful as possible," Murphy Center Managing Director Zachary Penland said, adding that historically, he has been proud of the relationship built between law enforcement and the Murphy Center. If his staff had been made aware of the efforts ahead of time, clients could have been warned, or at least reminded, of the importance of maintaining clean camps, rather than police simply issuing citations.

In the week after the sweep, Penland said many reported personal belongings being taken. Police delivered 33 trash bags loaded with mostly garbage to the Murphy Center, and people were able to go through and find things that were collected including books and even some eyeglasses.

While he acknowledged there is a ballooning problem with illegal camping, Rout said the tactic of citing people and creating a temporary fix wasn't the right approach and doesn't have the desired long-term outcome. It was even more surprising, he said, given a history of openness and communication among city leaders, police and people working with the homeless community.

"Everyone's trying to do the best that they can. That I find encouraging. I'm encouraged by the fact that everyone wants to solve this problem. Everyone wants to do it the right way. Nobody's out to do wrong," Rout said. "That gives me hope."

Solutions still elusive

As the man who was "survival camping" cleared up the scattered beer cans and shreds of paper, police wrote him a court summons for illegal camping. They point to a paper with the specific city ordinance spelled out — the same fliers that go up at known camps multiple people call home.

His main question: "where are the city limits and where can I go?"

Police, like many in the city, struggle to find an answer.

Restrictions have pushed some homeless folks out of Old Town and into nearby parks, communities and near the banks of the river. County officials struggle to find answers to curtail panhandling along the Mulberry corridor.

In the weeks since the backlash started about the surprise homeless camp sweeps, officials with the city and police have connected with homeless groups on searching for a broader, more permanent solution. Part of that could be a more collaborative effort aimed at educating homeless individuals and continuing a dialogue to move the conversation forward, much like efforts done in years past that cleaned up parks.

But there's still no easy answer.

While Penland said he understands the concerns from neighboring business owners and trail users, he said that until additional resources can be devoted to addressing where people can go, there's no escaping the issue.

With almost daily headlines showing Fort Collins housing prices that continue to surge and a slim supply of affordable housing options, he said there's likely no easy solutions, especially moving into the summer months when more folks are inclined to duck into the woods and make their own shelter.

"I think that's something that needs to be addressed," Penland said. "At the same time, until we actually can answer the question of 'where can I go?' it's very difficult to tell somebody 'you're not allowed to be here,' when the only crime they're doing is illegal camping."

While the bulk of law enforcement's homeless contacts and camping issues involve locals who live on the streets and are relatively cordial, police and nonprofit leaders said a new wave of people living on the streets view Colorado and Fort Collins as a bastion along a route that often takes them across the country.

These young populations, officials say, routinely become more brazen and aren't afraid to become confrontational, especially toward law enforcement. That's in addition to acting as a drain on resources for the Fort Collins community's homeless population.

"More are kind of choosing to participate in this romanticized version of the homeless life, which I think for a lot of the service providers is very frustrating," Murphy Center Managing Director Zachary Penland said. "They take away resources, take up time and reinforce false negatives."